Wipe heating system

ABSTRACT

The present invention is a pre-moistened wipe heating system capable of heating a number of pre-moistened wipes to a desired temperature. The system includes a package formed of a suitable moisture-impervious material within which a number of pre-moistened wipes are positioned. The system also includes a heating mechanism disposed in the package within a separate enclosure and in contact with the wipes that has a chemical heating element, and an activation device selectively engagable with the heating element. The activation device is actuated to activate the heating element, which initiates an exothermic reaction. The heat from the reaction is transmitted from the element to and through the wipes as a result of the moisture held within the wipes and within the package in order to heat the wipes to a desired temperature while also allowing the package to be handled by an individual as the wipes are heated.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/683,679, filed on Mar. 8, 2007, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 from U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/810,217 filed Jun. 1, 2006, the entirety of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to wipes, or moist towelettes and, more specifically, to a container used to store and heat the wipes prior to use.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Wipes or towelettes have long been utilized to clean a variety of items, such as tables, countertops and people, among others. A large number of the wipes of this type are pre-moistened in order to enable the wipes to more effectively clean the surface on which the wipes are utilized. To enable the wipes to retain this moisture until the wipes are used, it is necessary to enclose or package the wipes in a moisture-impervious manner that prevents the moisture from easily evaporating off of the wipes. Such packaging can include various containers or packages formed of rigid or flexible materials, such as plastic materials, with or without removable lids or reclosable seals.

However, one significant shortcoming with these pre-moistened wipes is that, due to the moisture present in the wipes, often the wipes are cold or cool to the touch when used. While this is not an overly significant issue when the wipes are used on inanimate surfaces, when the wipes are utilized to clean a person, such as an infant or child, the cool feel of the wipes is undesirable.

To overcome this problem, a number of devices have been developed that allow pre-moistened wipes to be positioned within the device and heated to a desired temperature prior to use. However, many of these devices require that the wipes be removed from their original packaging and replaced in the separate device in order to be heated. Also, these devices require electric power in order to operate the heating element disposed within the device, such that the devices can only be used when a power source, such as a conventional outlet, is available. Further, many of these devices do not provide adequate insulation or other protection from the heating devices utilized therein.

Therefore, it is desirable to develop a system and package for pre-moistened wipes that includes an isolated heating element located directly within the package that is capable of quickly and easily heating the wipes to a desired temperature, without having to utilize any separate device to supply the heat to the wipes that is outside of the original packaging for the pre-moistened wipes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a heating system for pre-moistened wipes is provided that includes a package formed of a moisture-impervious material within which the wipes can be placed. The package also includes a heating element disposed in contact with the wipes located in the package that, when activated, such as by pressing directly on the heating element or by using an activation device, can supply the necessary heat to the wipes to raise the wipes to a desired temperature. The heating element is a chemical heating device including separate compartments filled with reagents that, when mixed, initiate an exothermic reaction. The heat generated by this reaction is directed outwardly from the heating element and into the wipes that are positioned around the device to heat the wipes in a quick and easy manner.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the heating element is positioned within a separate heat-transmitting, but enclosed pouch to maintain the contents of the heating element within the enclosure.

Numerous other aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be made apparent from the following detailed description taken together with the drawing figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings illustrate the best mode currently contemplated as practicing the present invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an exploded, perspective view of a first embodiment of the wipe heating system constructed according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a second embodiment of the wipe heating system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of the wipe heating system of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a fourth embodiment of the wipe heating system of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference now to the drawing figures in which like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the disclosure, a package or pouch utilized to hold a number of pre-moistened wipes 12 therein and used in the wipe heating system 11 of the present invention is illustrated generally at 10 in FIG. 1. The package 10 can be formed of any suitable, and water or moisture-impervious material, such as a plastic material, and can have any desired construction that is utilized to hold the wipes 12 within the package 10. The package 10 can be formed to be rigid or flexible, and can include any suitable opening or closure 18 thereon, which can be reclosable, to enable an individual to readily access the wipes 12 within the package 10. For example, well-known packages for wipes 12 used currently are formed from rigid plastics to take the form either of boxes with hinged lids (not shown) or cylindrical canisters having covers with a central dispensing opening secured to the canister (not shown).

While the heating system 11 of the present invention is contemplated as including wipe containers of that type, in a preferred embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the package 10 is formed of a pair of sheets 14 of a flexible plastic material that are sealed together along their peripheral edges 16 to enclose the interior of the package 10 and hold a number of wipes 12 therein. Between the sealed edges 16, the structure of the package 10 is generally continuous to securely hold the wipes 12 and the moisture contained within the wipes 12 within the package 10.

To enable the package 10 to be opened to gain access to the wipes 12 held within the package 10, in a particularly preferred embodiment a closure 18, formed as a tear-away strip 20, can be disposed in one of the sheets 14 at any point between the sealed ends 12. The strip 20 is defined between a pair of aligned, parallel lines of perforation 22 that enable the strip 20 to be grasped at a tab 24 and removed from the package 10 between the perforation lines 22. However, the closure 18 can also be reclosable, such that the package 10 can be resealed after removing one or more wipes 12 from within the package 10.

Within the package 10, the wipes 12 are preferably separated into two stacks 26 by a heating mechanism 28, though other arrangements of the wipes 12 and heating mechanism 28 within the package 10 can also be utilized. The mechanism 28 includes a heating element 30 and an optional activation device 32 operably connected or disposed adjacent to the element 30. The heating element 30, can be a heating element such as those disclosed in co-pending and co-owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/195,118, incorporated by reference herein, and includes a pair of interior compartments 34 and 36 in which are disposed reagents (not shown) capable of initiating a highly exothermic reaction when intermixed with one another. While any suitable reagents can be utilized that produce a suitably exothermic reaction, preferably one of the reagents is a liquid, such as water, while the other reagent is a solid, such as calcium oxide, or a mixture of calcium oxide and sulfamic acid, together with glass beads (not shown) to separate the solid reagent to enable the liquid reagent to more easily and quickly react with the solid reagent. The compartments 34 and 36 are separated by a frangible seal 38 that can be broken by the application of sufficient force to one of the compartments 34 or 36 to urge the reactant contained therein against the seal 38, thereby rupturing the seal 38.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the heating element 30 is disposed on one side of the activation device 32, which takes the form of a separation plate 40 formed of a suitable, and preferably rigid material. The plate 40 includes a pair of activation members 42 located at opposite ends of the plate 40. The members 42 are movably connected to the plate 40, such as by living hinges 44, such that the members 42 can be used to compress one of the compartments 34 or 36 of the heating element 30, causing the reagent contained therein to press against and break the frangible seal 38, thereby mixing the reactants and initiating the exothermic reaction.

The heating element 30 can preferably be contained within a separate enclosure 1000 that completely covers the heating element 30, as best shown in FIG. 3. The enclosure 1000 is formed of a fluid-impervious and heat-transmitting material, such as aluminum, such that the heat generated by the heating mechanism 30 can be easily transmitted through the enclosure 1000. The material forming the enclosure 1000 is also designed to withstand high temperatures, such as temperatures in excess of 150°, which can be reached in certain circumstances where the reagents of the heating element 30 do not mix evenly and start a runaway reaction. The thickness o the material forming the enclosure 1000 is selected to be sufficient to provide the desired barrier around the heating element 30, but also sufficient to enable the enclosure 1000 to flex and allow for easy activation of the heating element 30 using whatever activation device 32 is provide with the package 10.

Further, the enclosure 1000 is entirely sealed about its periphery 1002, such that the enclosure 1000 forms a closed container around the heating element 30. Thus, the enclosure 1000 provides a second, sealed compartment within the package 10 that can retain the various reagents contained within the compartments 34 and 36 of the heating element 30 should these reagents escape the compartments 34 and 36 for any reason. Additionally, the enclosure 1000 can be formed to generally conform to the size and shape of the heating element 30, as the amounts of the reagents held in the compartments 34 and 36 are less than the volume of the overall heating element 30, and correspondingly less than that of the enclosure 1000 that is positioned around the heating element 30 to completely enclose the element 30. However, the enclosure 1000 can also be formed to have an interior volume capable of accommodating both the heating element 30 and the activation device 32, if desired.

Once the reaction is initiated, the heat generated by the reaction radiates out of the heating element 30 and into the wipes 12 positioned on opposite sides of the element 30. The moisture in the wipes 12, as well as any residual or condensed moisture within the package 10 separate from the wipes 12, enables the heat to efficiently and generally evenly flow through the entire wipe 12, and also through adjacent wipes 12 in each stack 26 that are spaced from the element 30. The total amount of heat generated by the element 30 is sufficient to heat all of the wipes 12 in the package 10 approximately to the desired temperature, e.g., between about 104° F. and about 107° F. Furthermore, the heat generated by the element 30 is not transmitted in any significant amount outside of the package 10, such that the package 10 can be easily handled by an individual, even when the wipes 12 are actively being heated by the element 30.

The reason for this is that the moisture in the wipe or wipes 12 immediately adjacent the element 30 effectively draws in the heat generated from the reaction occurring in the element 30 and transmits it throughout the wipe 12, as well as into adjacent wipes 12 positioned on opposite sides of the element 30. The volume of the wipes 12 and the moisture contained in each wipe 12 allows for the entire amount of the heat generated by the element 30 to be distributed relatively evenly through each of the wipes 12 contained in the package 10.

Also, to assist in adequately and evenly heating the wipes 12, the amount of the reagents contained in the compartments 34 and 36 of the element 30 can be selected to provide the exothermic reaction generated by the reagents with enough capacity to heat the volume of the wipes 12 contained within the package 10. This also effectively prevents the reagents from initiating a reaction that could potentially supply enough heat energy to damage the wipes 12 and/or package 10.

The plate 40 can also be dimensioned such that the wipes 12 extend past the periphery of the plate 40, allowing the wipes 12 in the stack 26 contacting the element 30 to transmit the heat from the element 30 through those wipes 12 around the plate 40 and into the wipes 12 in the opposite stack 26. Alternatively or in addition to the size of the plate 40, the plate 40 can be formed with a number of apertures (not shown) therein that enable the heat generated from the element 30 to be transmitted directly through the plate 40 to the wipes 12 located against the plate opposite the element 30.

In the embodiment of the package 10 shown in FIG. 1, the plate 40 includes a pair of activation flaps 42 on each end of the plate 40, such that two heating elements 30 can be positioned one on each side of the plate 40 for activation by one of the flaps 42. This enables the first element 30 to be used to heat the wipes 12 therein, such that the package 10 can be opened to dispense the now-heated wipes 12 and the resealed. Subsequently, the second element 30 can be activated to reheat the wipes 12 within the package 10, such that the package 10 can be reopened to dispense the remainder of the wipes 12.

In a second embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 2, the activation device 32 takes the form of a folding member 46 including a pair of panels 48 and 50 positioned adjacent and on opposite sides of the heating element 30 that are joined by a living hinge 44. The panels 48 and 50 of each member 46 are pressed towards one another to compress the heating element 30 in the same manner as done with the plate 40 in order to activate the heating element 30, but with out the central portion of the plate 40 being present. This allows more direct and efficient heat transfer from the heating element 30 to the wipes 12 positioned on opposite sides of the heating element 30. Also, the folding member 46 and wipes 12 can be accessed through the use of a resealable closure 52 that is disposed along one side of the package 10, such as are well-known in the art.

Other variations to the structure and form of the system are also contemplated by the present invention. For example, the element 30 and/or the plate 40 or folding member 46 can each be designed to be replaceable within the package 10, especially for those packages 10 that are formed from more rigid materials. In addition, other features can be added to the package 10 such as a temperature indicator to illustrate when the wipes 12 within the package 10 have reached the desired temperature for use.

In addition, other variations on the form and orientation of the wipes 12 can be used with the heating element 30, such as folding a pair of wipes 12 over each side of the heating element 30, as shown in FIG. 3, or by inserting the heating element 30 into one of a number of folds 100, and preferably the middle fold 100, of a single multi-fold wipe 12, as shown in FIG. 4. Thus, by varying the size and position of the heating element 30, the number and types of wipes 12 that can be positioned in a package 10 with the heating element 30 can also be varied to provide easily and quickly heatable wipe packages for a multitude of situations.

Various alternatives are contemplated as being within the scope of the following claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter regarded as the invention. 

1. A wipe heating system comprising: a) a moisture-impervious package adapted to hold a number or pre-moistened wipes therein; and b) a heating mechanism disposed within the package, the heating mechanism including a chemical heating element, an activation device disposed adjacent the heating element and engageable with the heating element to initiate an exothermic reaction within the heating element, and an enclosure positioned around the heating element.
 2. The system of claim 1 wherein the enclosure is positioned around the heating element and the activation device.
 3. The system of claim 1 wherein the enclosure is formed of a material capable of withstanding temperatures in excess of 150°.
 4. The system of claim 1 wherein the enclosure is sealed about its entire periphery. 